Master’s or Equivalent: Education Impacts
This is the third in a series of four articles prepared by a subcommittee of the NSPE Licensure and Qualifications for Practice Committee examining the various impacts of the additional engineering education initiative. This summary was drafted by Paul D. Schmidt, P.E. Comments are welcome.
The fundamental goal of the “Masters or Equivalent” initiative is to require additional education to provide an improved base of knowledge for those wishing to practice at the professional level. This will both require and cause changes in engineering education in the U.S.
The current proposals for additional education would require either a master’s degree in engineering or 30 credit hours of post-baccalaureate education with the 30 credit hours either upper-level undergraduate or graduate-level courses or approved courses/programs of equivalent rigor. Institutions of higher learning will need to provide for this additional course work. The increase in the number of students pursuing a master’s degree will require an increase in the size and number of master’s degree programs. This will also impact the types of programs, likely increasing the number of practice-oriented master’s programs. This will impact colleges and universities across the country, which will need to expand offerings and increase in overall size. While there is some concern with the ability to handle additional students, it is commonly believed that there is currently excess capacity within the existing graduate-level programs in the U.S. It is anticipated that the education marketplace will adjust to meet the changing demand.
One question often asked is, What about students who cannot get accepted in a master’s degree program, either due to grades or other criteria? Many programs will accept students who meet most, but not all, of their acceptance criteria on a probationary basis. For those who are not accepted in a degree program, typically graduate-level courses can be taken as a non-degree-seeking student without being admitted to a graduate program. In this case, the graduate-level courses would satisfy the 30 hour “or equivalent” requirement.
Students who enter the workforce upon graduation from an undergraduate program have several options to meet the “master’s or equivalent” requirement. In addition to taking individual courses, students have the opportunity to take master’s degree programs by distance education and programs with an executive format that allow classes to be taken outside typical workday hours. It is anticipated the opportunities for these options will expand over time and as demand increases. There are some in academia who predict that 20 years from now more than half of graduate engineering education will be provided by distance learning.
The increased requirements will also have an effect on the nature of engineering education. Challenges for future licensed professional engineers will require both a breadth of knowledge in fundamental engineering and sciences and social sciences, as well as increasing depth of knowledge in specialized engineering disciplines. The increase in base requirements for licensure will provide an opportunity for engineering educational programs to adjust their curriculum to best meet these breadth and depth requirements. Current discussions regarding the master’s or equivalent requirement suggest that at least half of the additional credit hours be in engineering subjects. Some programs may choose to expand undergraduate offerings of professional practice topics such as management, leadership, economics, and sustainability and provide for specialization in post-undergraduate studies.
NSPE Licensure and Qualifications for Practice Committee, Master’s or Equivalent Subcommittee: Paul Schmidt, P.E.; Michael Gunsch, P.E.; Mark Davy, P.E.; Jon Nelson, P.E.; Bernard Berson, P.E.; Paul Taormina, P.E.; Robert Stanley, P.E.